How we work

How does lending work in Switzerland?

Lenders usually publish interest rates and general criteria. Whether a loan is granted, in what amount and on what terms, however, depends on many other factors. These risk criteria are not published to protect against fraud.

To compare several loan offers, a customer must submit loan applications to multiple providers. Depending on the lender, the effort is high and takes time.

Loan decisions are registered with the Central Office for Credit Information (ZEK). Around half of all applications are rejected. One or multiple loan rejections can affect the chances of approval in the future.

The risk criteria and conditions for granting a loan by providers are not transparent to the client. Lower interest rates are attractive for the customer, but generally mean stricter criteria and therefore a higher risk of rejection. Due to this challenging situation for the customer, a loan broker was founded within the Comparis-group in 2014 to provide a useful service for this problem.

How does a loan broker work

As a loan broker, we are in the middle between you as a customer and several lenders.

• Thanks to many years of cooperation with all relevant loan providers, we know their approval criteria from experience.
• Credaris examines your request in detail to assess whether and with which banks you have a chance of obtaining a loan.
• We take care of the completion and processing of your request to advise you on the way to your loan.

In this way, we achieve an approval rate of over 80% for the applications we submit for our customers compared to around 50% approval rate for applications handed in to lenders directly.

How we work with lenders

Loan providers and brokers conclude contracts for cooperation. The lender pays the broker a part of the proceeds from the lending as a commission.

The loan broker itself may not charge any costs to the customer. This is illegal. In no case will there be a direct flow of money between the borrower and a broker. This applies without exception, including any kind of fees. The Consumer Credit Act (KKG) clearly states that all costs associated with the loan must be included in the annual percentage rate of charge. Anyone who (supposedly) advertises the brokerage of a loan but lists costs is therefore dubious. A corresponding note («we do not broker loans») can usually be found at the bottom of the website on the pages of such «loan providers».

Credaris as a loan broker takes over the preliminary check of your profile and your request for you as a customer, advises you transparently on your options and processes your loan application – if you decide to do so – up to the contract. The lender receives your application from Credaris and checks it according to their own criteria. The approval process usually takes a couple of days. If the contract has been signed legally by both parties and (in the case of consumer loans) the 14-day right of withdrawal has expired, the amount will be transferred to your account by the selected provider and the loan contract goes into effect.

Of course, we are also available to answer any questions and concerns you may have during the term of the contract.

What we consider most important

We only pass on a loan application if, after careful examination, we are convinced with a solid degree of certainty that we will receive a positive decision for you as a customer. Despite many years of experience and care, we cannot guarantee a commitment for every application submitted.

If – for example, after the ZEK query – the bank has information that was not known to us, this is missing from the advice and preparation of your loan application: it is therefore important that you communicate all current obligations (such as leases, credit card balance or current loans) directly in a loan request. This applies particularly if negative events in your credit history could be stored about you. Rejections for such reasons are avoidable.

Through our work and preliminary clarifications, which we carry out with your support, we significantly increase the chance of approval. We make every effort to minimize rejections and avoid the corresponding ZEK entry.

Don't worry: in many cases, a single rejection does not make borrowing impossible.

If, on the other hand, you do not have the opportunity to obtain a loan, we will inform you of this immediately after your non-binding request. As far as possible in each individual case, we will provide you with information on the reasons why a loan is temporarily or generally impossible.

Our promise:

• We only submit applications of impeccable quality.
• Credaris is known for high quality. We use our expertise, energy and time to consistently live up to this reputation and provide excellent service to our customers.
• Therefore, the loan providers trust in our work. That's why, and thanks to the high volume we process, we can offer attractive rates for your loan. In general, your loan will not be more expensive for a request from Credaris than for a direct application.

Why we are convinced of our offer

The request about Credaris compared to a direct request

• Your personal client advisor will carry out a detailed examination of your personal, individual situation.
• We discuss your options transparently and at eye level with you.
• Only after this preliminary examination and if we are convinced with a certain degree of certainty that we will achieve a loan approval for you, will your application be submitted in consultation with you. Under no circumstances will we submit applications that are likely to be rejected.
• We advise you on your chances and any reasons for rejection.
• We give you transparent feedback on your options.

A direct application to the loan provider leads to a query as well as an entry in the ZEK. Your application will thus be visible directly to all other providers. If the application is rejected, this will remain visible in the ZEK for two years. In most cases, you will not know the reason for the rejection.

• In the case of a non-binding inquiry with Credaris, the ZEK is only requested after submission of the application to the bank and the application is recorded in the ZEK.
• In this way, we avoid unnecessary negative ZEK entries.
• We work with all relevant lenders in Switzerland and place your loan application where we see good opportunities for you.

This way we achieve high approval rates at attractive conditions and support you on the way to your loan and beyond.